Egypt’s ousted leader dies at 91

FORMER Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for 30 years until ousted in a popular uprising against corruption and autocracy, died yesterday at the age of 91.

A partner of the West in fighting Islamists, Mubarak presided over an era of stagnation and repression at home and was an early victim of the “Arab Spring” revolutions that swept the region. He died in intensive care a few weeks after undergoing surgery.

Egypt’s presidency and armed forces mourned him as a hero for his role in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war and the former air force officer will be given a military funeral.

Three days of public mourning were declared and state television played clips of Mubarak with a black ribbon at the corner of the screen.

Mubarak, who was arrested two months after being forced out by the protesters who crammed into Cairo’s Tahrir Square in 2011, spent several years in jail and military hospitals.

He was sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to murder 239 demonstrators during the 18-day revolt, but was freed in 2017 after being cleared of the charges. He was, however, convicted in 2015, along with his two sons, of diverting public funds to upgrade family properties. They were sentenced to three years in jail.

Mubarak did not leave the country after his overthrow, unlike Tunisia’s Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who fled with his family to Saudi Arabia after being ousted in the first Arab Spring protests.

Mubarak had always maintained his innocence and said history would judge him a patriot who served his country selflessly, but for many Egyptians his time in power was a period of autocracy and crony capitalism.

His successor, Mohamed Mursi, lasted only a year in office, after mass protests in 2013 led to his overthrow by then defence chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is now president. Mubarak-era figures, meanwhile, are gradually being cleared of charges, and laws limiting political freedoms have raised fears among activists that the old regime is back.